Briefs

New Info Security Institute kicks off seminar series

The university's new
Information Security
Institute will launch a spring seminar series on Monday, Jan.
29, with an introductory talk by Ilene Busch-Vishniac, dean of
the Whiting School of Engineering. She will talk about the need
for the new institute and its future.

The talk, which is free and open to the public, will be held
in the Arellano Theater in Levering Hall, Homewood campus.

The program is the first of seven lectures planned by the
institute through April. The other talks will focus on topics
such as cyber terrorism, intellectual property rights in a
digital age and computer privacy issues.

The institute, also known as JHUISI, was established
recently to tackle the complex technological, legal, ethical and
public policy challenges of keeping information private and
computer systems secure in an increasingly electronic world.

The institute will conduct research and offer courses,
drawing on experts from nearly every school and division in the
university. It will work in partnership with industry and
government agencies.

SOM prof appointed to committee on mental retardation

President Clinton, shortly before the end of his term,
appointed James Harris, professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at
the School of Medicine, to the Health and Human Services
Committee on Mental Retardation. Harris was sworn into the
position Jan. 12 for a two-year term.

The committee meets four times a year to advise the White
House on policy issues important to the mentally retarded.

Harris is expected to bring scientific expertise on the
genetic and environmental mechanisms behind mental retardation to
the 21-member committee, as well as understanding of the ways in
which mental retardation may, in certain cases, cause disruptive
and violent behavior. One issue that may come before the
committee is use of the death penalty for murders committed by
the mentally retarded.

Harris serves as SOM's director of developmental
neuropsychiatry, an academic field he is credited with founding.
He previously held appointments as director of the Kennedy
Krieger Institute and president of the Society of Professors of
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

The event was hosted by Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, which
honored Moore, a member, with its Medallion of Honor.

Remarks on Moore's accomplishment were offered by Susan
Boswell, dean of students; Jerome Schnydman, executive assistant
to the president; Cummings; and Schmoke, a recipient of the
prestigious scholarship nearly three decades ago.

Moore, the first student from Hopkins to be named a Rhodes
Scholar since 1988, will study international relations at Oxford
University for two years. He was one of 32 chosen nationwide from
among 950 applicants.

Moore also was presented during the evening with citations
from the offices of Gov. Parris Glendening, Mayor Martin
O'Malley, the Maryland State Legislature and the Baltimore City
Council.

APL explores new wind tunnel model fabrication method

The Applied Physics
Laboratory is developing an alternative, low-cost way of
fabricating scale models that will make aerodynamic wind tunnel
tests a more affordable way for air defense programs to collect
high-quality data on conceptual missile designs.

Traditionally, wind tunnel models are made of metal and are
very expensive, in part because of the intricacies involved when
machining the parts to obtain the best simulation possible; it is
therefore too costly for most programs to produce more than one
or two models.

APL's research team, led by Richard Heisler and Clifford
Ratliff, is investigating alternative ways to create models from
nonmetallic materials, such as engineering polymers including
thermoplastic--similar to that used to make a computer's
housing--and thermoset resins, like those found in tennis rackets
and golf clubs.